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Christiana Hundred is an unincorporated subdivision ofNew Castle County,Delaware.Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in theDelaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they presently have no meaningful use or purpose except as a geographical point of reference.
Christiana Hundred is that portion of New Castle County that lies north of theChristina River andWhite Clay Creek, west of theBrandywine Creek and east of theRed Clay Creek, excepting that portion in the southeast included inWilmington Hundred. Its northern boundary follows a portion of the12 mile arc drawn around the town ofNew Castle. It was one of the original hundreds in Delaware created in 1682 and was named for the Christina River that flows along its southern boundary. When created it included some of the area now inMill Creek Hundred,White Clay Hundred, andPencader Hundred, all of which were split off in 1710. It also included much of the area now in Wilmington Hundred, which was split off 1833.
While the northern half of the hundred remains the wooded and semi-rural "Chateaux country" of country estates and expensive developments, the southern half is completely urban and suburban with almost continuous industrial, commercial and residential development. The southeastern portion was built out early in the twentieth century with the remainder in the decades followingWorld War II. The towns ofElsmere andNewport, andGreenville Census Designated Places (CDP), and the community ofCentreville are in Christiana Hundred.
Important geographical features, in addition to the Christiana River, White Clay Creek, Red Clay Creek, and Brandywine Creek, include theHoopes Reservoir. It is mostly in thePiedmont region, but the southern portion is below the easternFall Line and on thecoastal plain. It is split by the January freezing isotherm into ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) in the south and a hot-summerhumid continental climate (Dfa) in the north. Average monthly temperatures in Elsmere range from 32.5°F in January to 76.7°F in July.[1] Thehardiness zone is 7a.
Important roads include portions ofInterstate 95, Centre Road (Delaware Route 141), Kennett Pike (Delaware Route 52), Montchanin Road (Delaware Route 100), Lancaster Pike (Delaware Route 48), the Kirkwood Highway (Delaware Route 2), and the old main highway between Wilmington and Baltimore, now Maryland Avenue and its extension, Newport-Stanton Pike (Delaware Route 4). A portion of thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, subsequently the main north–south line of thePennsylvania Railroad, nowAmtrak'sNortheast Corridor, crosses through Newport, and a portion of the oldBaltimore and Ohio Railroad, nowCSX Transportation'sPhiladelphia Subdivision crosses through Elsmere. TheEast Penn Railroad runs from Elsmere generally along Montchanin Road and theWilmington and Western Railroad runs along Red Clay Creek.
